This happened amazingly only when, as far back as 2012, during the exercises ‘Red Flag Alaska’, Eurofighter Typhoons of the German Air Force gave tough competition to F-22 Raptors of the U.S. Air Force, which was the first face-off of both aircraft types ever in dissimilar air combat training, hence teaching some pretty vital lessons on various aspects of both aircraft.
Agility and maneuverability allowed them to hold their own, even outperforming the F-22 Raptors in Within Visual Range engagements. In the Farnborough International Airshow 2012, the Typhoon pilots claimed it was much easier without external fuel tanks, while the Eurofighter proved to be better in close combat dog fighting. While the F-22 certainly had a TV for quick changes in direction, it badly lost considerable energy in so doing, and unless scoring quickly, was put in a position of vulnerability.
That agrees with previous analyses, which concluded that energy expenditure is not worthwhile for the thrust vectoring unless the fighter is in a post-stall regime. Further putting any prospective F-22 at a disadvantage in any WVR scenario is the aircraft’s lack of High Off-Bore Sight and Helmet Mounted Display features. While, conceptually, the Raptor’s stealth attributes would make such close-range engagements unnecessary, several modern combat scenarios can still make this a possibility.
Besides, Typhoon IRST can detect stealthy aircraft, such as the F-22, from a distance of approximately 50 km, especially if it is a large, hot target. All mentioned above, including Meteor missile usage with a longer range compared to AIM-120 AMRAAM at the service of the F-22, increases Typhoon’s efficiency in both BVR and WVR.
Typhoons even scored several mock kills on Raptors during exercises in Red Flag Alaska: “Yesterday, we had Raptor salad for lunch,” said one German pilot, jokingly. Indeed, kill markings of the F-22s were visible in German Eurofighters on the last day of the exercise pretty bold statement of their performance.
These exercises, despite the much-vaunted stealth, sensor fusion, and avionics of the F-22 Raptor, marked quite a dogfighting reality check. What these exercises underlined was that in air combat, there can be complex issues other than just the technical specifications; the Typhoon, accordingly, was rather in a position to challenge the Raptor with ease in many aspects, having been designed to be maneuverable and multi-role-capable.
After all, even when the F-22 was still formidable, dominance can never be written in stone. The intricateness of the training within the Red Flag Alaska exercises epitomized the contextual nature of air war with advanced aircraft.